Relais Spa Val d'Europe — Hotel in Torcy

This is my second visit to this hotel and I have really mixed views.

The hotel itself is clean, our bed was so comfortable and the room was spacious. I personally loved the interior design. Complimentary robes and spa slippers were a bonus! Good location for Disneyland and the train station however, is an hour train ride from the main tourist areas in Paris.

Side note: I would highly recommend tourists obtain a Navigo pass for their travel needs but be warned - the underground is more chaotic than the London underground. You will be shoved and squashed.

The spa and pool area of the hotel was relaxing but the sauna was out of service during our entire stay.

I booked a couple's massage over a month in advance for Valentine's Day. I was so upset when they said the person who confirmed the booking did not reserve it in the actual system. They offered us a massage slot the next day at 15% off instead of the usual 10% for hotel guests. I thought this was a cheek. I will say however, after speaking with the manager, Charlotte, she understood straight away that it was their error and apologised for the upset caused. She was very polite. She offered us the massage the next day at 50% off. It was still a bit inconvienient as the massage was after check out (they could not offer us late check out) so we didn't get to spend time at the pool before the massage as we had packed our things. I will say this was our choice as the spa does have changing and shower facilities if we did want to dig out our swimsuits and use the pool prior to the massage. The spa then provided us with a travel gift set for free to apologise which I thought was very kind on top of the 50% discount.

Breakfast was adequate - we went at 7am and the food was good. On our last day however, we slept in and went to breakfast at 9:30am. It was busier and the service was so slow. Most food took 10 minutes to be restocked when empty and this happened often as the self-service station was small.

The drivers on the shuttle bus to Disneyland were both pleasant. However, I felt very disheartened by a handful of staff's attitude. I speak French fairly well but am by no means fluent. Some staff members appreciated the effort and greeted me warmly. However, on saying goodnight to a male consierge, he actually laughed in my face and did not reply. The majority (not all) of staff members were rude and were very obviously talking badly about the English-speaking guests.

Finally, the hotel left us with a very bad taste in our mouths. On check-in, I literally watched my partner speak to the lady (who was pleasant) at the desk and pay for the surprises he had set up i.e. rose petals, flowers and a fruit bowl. He asked her outright 'is there anything left to pay' and she said 'no'. (You do not have to pay a €250 security deposit as advertised on the hotel's website).

On checking out, they demanded €90 for the rose petals and did not listen to us when we had explained what we had paid and what we were told. They acknowledged that it was their error yet they attempted to take the money from the card on file right in front of us, without telling us. This payment was blocked and the 2 women began to speak to us in an absolutely vile manner. They tried to say the colleague had not wanted to ruin the surprise so would not have said about the payment but I argued that that did not make sense as the colleague who checked us in HAD hinted about the surprise and took payment for the same!! I also explained that we did not even get to enjoy the fruit as the cleaners removed the bowl the previous day. I had called down to reception twice to have it replaced but my requests were ignored and I never received an explanation as to why it was removed when we were clearly not finished with it.

They told us 'you can just go' and turned their noses up at us as if we were lower than them. We ended up paying because we are good people and it was extremely upsetting to be treated as if we were trash. They did not offer anything, not...

Fresh news about a vacation at Disneyland, Paris, I returned yesterday.

We left with Wizz Air which was supposed to take us directly from Bucharest to Beauvais, Paris but what to see? After about an hour of flight the pilot announced that they had some technical problems and we had to return to the airport in Cluj to repair or change the plane. Naturally they had no more glue so we changed with another old plane which also broke down on the way to France. There was a deafening noise right in the back where their toilets and kitchen were.

Finally, we arrived in Beauvais where due to the delays even though we had prepaid the transport to the Relais Spa hotel where I do not recommend you go if you have children. The attitude of the people at the airport and the hotel manager was very nasty and repulsive. They are cold and uncomprehending, stubborn and mean. The transport guy was notified by me via WhatsApp that we would be late but he said he understood me and still didn't wait. We were dropped off at the airport and when I called them they said they didn't care and that I should manage.

We left with an Uber that charged 135 euros and we arrived at the hotel where we had to pay 51 euros in city tax for two adults and a minor child. The hotel people said they had a pool but the program for children is only from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 17:00 and the rest is only for adults. They don't realize that you can't send a minor child alone in the room. So as such you leave with the child too. I even used the pool and at 17:00 about 3 different people came to take my child out. They didn't care and they were incomprehensible even though we were only parents with children at the pool. I was told that it was a private place and that it was their rule and even if it was public the rule was theirs even though I told them that it is illegal in Europe to lock a minor child alone in a hotel room and that EU laws take precedence, to which they said they didn't care. Be careful that they don't have a lifeguard at all at the pool. The hotel room is not the one in the pictures and not even 4 stars but more like in Bulgaria with 2-3 stars maximum. (pathetic and I don't recommend) P.S. they don't offer any international TV channels on they're rooms , no cartoon chanells

On the way back we arrived at the airport where the customs officers were very bad, abusive and overzealous. They took toothpaste that was used up and it was 90g in total for us. You spoke to them in English and they only shouted French back. Did they think that if I shouted I would understand their language? Even though they were shouting at us through the loudspeaker that the plane was leaving they made me take off my watch, my belt and many other things, they made me go back and walk more slowly through that metal gate. When I tried to go through again they pushed me back with their hands and shouted in French even though I told them I didn't understand that language. The customs officer was a tall guy with glasses that nature made fun of and the midgets who went through your luggage and kept saying that toothpaste is liquid (pathetic!) were just as bad. So in the end we were lucky with the pilot and our Romanian girls from the plane who waited for us and about 3 other people who were in the same situation as us.

When I saw myself back at home I recovered from the bad experience at the hotel, the customs officers and the French employees.

In Disneyland the only disappointment was that Pirates of the Caribbean was closed for renovations and even though I got the Disney app before leaving Romania they didn't bother to...

We stayed for 3 nights in May 2023 and didn’t have a great experience unfortunately. Having booked the hotel based on traveller reviews we were disappointed overall. CHECK IN We arrived at the hotel at 3.10pm (checkin from 3pm) and had to wait in a 20 minute queue. When we reached the desk we were told our room was not ready and we would have to wait 10 minutes. We sat in reception for an HOUR from that point so it was after 4.30pm when we finally got in our room after a day of traveling. In that time we watched dozens of other people check in without problem. I don’t know why they wouldn’t allocate us a room that was ready and give ours to someone who arrived later. We got our key and went to the room and the cleaner was still in there. A lady i assume was in charge of the cleaning staff made us wait in the corridor for him to complete.

ROOM We stayed in a room at the front of the hotel on the first floor. The bed was huge and very comfortable and the room was clean and maintained each day. However the hair dryer was falling to pieces, the bath plug didnt work properly and there was signs of wear and tear all over including cigarette burns in the curtains. The room was incredibly noisy we had to go purchase ear plugs after the first night. The windows did nothing to dim the traffic noise from the busy road at the front of the hotel and the air conditioning fan was loud. It didn’t cool the room either so it was much too warm. I’d recommend requesting a room at the back of the hotel and on a high floor away from the road if possible.

LOCATION Great location a 5 minute drive from Disney and a 5-10 minute walk from the shopping centre and various restaurants. The train station is just around the corner.

DISNEY SHUTTLE SERVICE We used this every day and it worked really well. We didn’t wait more than 10 minutes for a ride either coming or going to the park. The drivers give you a card to call when you want to be picked up but we found they were already sat waiting at the pickup spot at park closing times anyway and the round trip is only 10 minutes if there are a few people waiting. There was only 2 of us and they use a 8 seat bus so we could fit in most times. Might be a bit longer wait for big families at busy times. Much more pleasant than the cramped Disney hotel shuttles.

BREAKFAST We paid for bed and breakfast so ate at the buffet each morning. Service is between 7am-10am. There is plenty of choice including pastries, breads, cereal, fruit, meats etc but the hot options were not hot unfortunately. One of the 2 coffee machines was also out of order so there was always a long queue for hot drinks. On our last day we went for breakfast and the service staff brought over an invoice for us to sign. I told them that we had already paid but they were insistant we weren’t on the list so must sign the invoice. I showed them my booking and told them to double check with reception but it made for a very embarrassing situation for us which resulted in my husband not eating in case we had to pay. The bill was resolved at check out but it was another issue that shouldn’t have happened. The breakfast certainly isn’t worth €26 per person if you pay on the day.

SPA We didn’t use the spa but it did look really nice. I think there is an age limit on using the pool if you’re travelling with small children it would be worth checking.

All in all we didn’t have a great experience. We are regular traveller to Disney with annual passes so although I would like to give this hotel a second chance I think I would book a different hotel in the Val D’EUROPE area...